Southern California -- this just in

Journalist Matthew Keys says he's 'fine' after hacking indictment

March 14, 2013 | 5:28
pm

Thomson Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys said on Twitter that he was "fine" after being indicted
Thursday for allegedly conspiring with members of the hacking group “Anonymous” to
infiltrate a Tribune site shortly after he was fired.

"I am fine. I found out the same way most of you did: From
Twitter. Tonight I'm going to take a break. Tomorrow, business as usual," he wrote.

Keys, 26, who once worked at Fox 40 in Sacramento, was
charged with three hacking-related counts and faces up to 10 years in prison
for the December 2010 attack. The hack appeared on a news story on the website
of the Los Angeles Times, which is also owned by Tribune.

Reuters issued a statement saying it was aware of the indictment. "Any legal violations, or failures to
comply with the company's own strict set of principles and standards,
can result in disciplinary action. We would also observe the indictment
alleges the conduct occurred in December 2010; Mr. Keys joined Reuters
in 2012, and while investigations continue we will have no further
comment," a Thomson Reuters spokesman told the wire service.

According to federal authorities, Keys provided a user name and
password for Tribune servers to hackers in an online chat room after he was
terminated from KTXL FOX 40 in late October of that year and
"encouraged" them to disrupt the site. With the information from Keys,
prosecutors allege, a hacker accessed a news story on The Times’ website and
changed a headline to read: "Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY
1337."

"[T]hat was such a buzz having my edit on the LA Times,"
the hacker, using the screen name “sharpie,” wrote to Keys, according to the
indictment. "Nice," Keys allegedly replied.

(The Times saved a copy of a hacked article, above. But it's not
entirely clear if that article is the one prosecutors referenced in the
indictment.)

Prosecutors wrote in the indictment that the Tribune Co. spent more
than $5,000 responding to the attack and restoring its systems. They are
also
seeking forfeiture of the tools Keys used in assisting the attack,
including
his MacBook Pro.